Army Office of Small Business Programs in Action at the National HUBZone Conference!

The Army Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) participated in the National HUBZone Conference that took place in Chantilly, Virginia, from July 23 to 25, 2024. The annual conference, hosted by the HUBZone Contractors National Council, featured approximately 960 participants representing small and other-than-small businesses, as well as 27 exhibitors and 46 sponsors.

Highlights:

• Ms. Kimberly Buehler, Director of the Army OSBP, was a key member, along with representatives from the Department of the Navy and the Department of Veterans Affairs, on the “Supply Chain Synergy – Optimizing OEM and Reseller Partnerships” panel, providing best practices for OEM resellers interested in selling to the government. The panel was moderated by Ms. Patricia Arauz-Corrow from Quest Power International and also featured Mr. Paul Baumler from Global Industrial, Inc. and Mr. Ray McKinnon of The H.A.B.I.T.S Group.
• Army OSBP Program Managers hosted a matchmaking table to help small businesses with one-on-one counseling on marketing to the Army Buying Commands.
• Army OSBP representatives also met with vendors that were unable to schedule matchmaking appointments.

The event provided Army OSBP the opportunity to share the Army’s priorities with the vendors in attendance, helping to increase the number of “procurement-ready” small businesses available to fulfill Army requirements in support of the Army’s continuous transformation. In Fiscal Year 2023, the Army awarded over $2.81 billion in prime contracts to HUBZone small businesses, equating to 3.18% of the Army’s prime contracting obligations.